RPGs

Since I last blogged, things have been busy. I’ve had a lot on, and the day job has been fairly frenetic. So what’s been happening?

My freelancer work has seen me doing indexes for a number of Modiphius core books: Infinity, Conan, and Star Trek Adventures (my name is front and centre in the credits!). I’ve also compiled the Universal Index for the Mutant Chronicles Universe (download it for free, here), and collated the timeline (see here). I’ve also written for the Cartel Tactical Center fanzine for MC. It’s not something I’m always credited for, but I’ve been on board the whole Mutant Chronicles line bar the core rulebook and two supplements over the course of two years.

I ran a number of games at UK Games Expo, and also worked on the Modiphius stand. I was exhausted by the end of it, and the train journey back was a real trial. I was a running on fumes when I got back. Not sure if I can keep running demo games, but it was fun. I was probably more weary than I thought as I discovered one of my hearing aids wasn’t working – two days later, of course. Both the Dark Eden Setting book and Dark Eden Campaign I worked on were submitted for consideration to the ENnies, but didn’t make it to the nominations.

This has given me a few ideas on what’s up next.

After my disappointment with Hoard of the Dragon Queen, I’ve largely avoided D&D and fantasy RPGs in general. I’m hoping to go back to them next year, possibly running a Symbaroum game. It’s a dark Scandinavian RPG that my fellow Modiphians have raved about.

I am going to write an Achtung! Cthulhu campaign, an episodic campaign that I hope to maybe see print. I’m going to start it in a few months with a new group at ORC Edinburgh. I plan to use the 7th edition rules to run it, but also plan to make the conversion available. I plan to finally get the Mutant Chronicles scenarios down in words rather than in my head… Notably “Life in the day”, “Ice-cold in Eden”, and “Rising damp”. Also, there’s the final errata log for the MC product line.

I suspect there’s more indexing work coming my way from future books, as well as possibly the Living Campaigns for both Achtung! Cthulhu and Mutant Chronicles. I’ll continue to write for both Modiphia (the free quarterly magazine from Modiphius) and CTC. I also intend to finally construct the Achtung! Cthulhu and RAFM miniatures I own. It’s only been two years.

EDIT: I’ll also be writing up notes on converting Achtung! Cthulhu to 7th Edition.

It’s been a bit quiet on here recently. There’s a lot of reasons for this. The main reason is the lack of time, but there’s another contributing factor: I’ve had to slow down a little.

So what’s eating my time? Put simply, work is largely responsible along with poor health and trying to do too much. I’m very much aware of how stress can manifest itself, having suffered it to a great extent last year. I’ve talked before about managing my time, but last year it really became an issue, especially as I developed discoid eczema over 75% of my body. This in turn fed my stress levels which pushed them even higher.

At the time, I was running two RPG campaigns, attending ELG, attending Leiththeatre (amateur dramatics), running ORC Edinburgh, being a “gaming ambassador”, working 9-5, and doing freelance RPG work in my spare time. I’d also just left a toxic relationship, which – although brief – had affected me more than I thought. Looking back, something was bound to give sooner or later.

Since last year, I’ve managed to strike a work-life balance. My RPG freelance work does not impinge on my day job (it never did, though). Plus, I’ve been receiving photo-therapy which has cleared much of the discoid eczema. I’ve sadly had to wind down both my RPG campaigns as found I didn’t have the prep time. I stopped the am-dram stuff as it was two nights a week, which meant I didn’t really get to stop until 10pm.

So what the hell, you may ask, has this to do with gaming?

It’s about managing expectations.

Working on RPGs and managing expectations

It’s been said to me several times that I’m “living the dream”. From a certain point of view I am, but there’s a cost involved – which I’ll come to in a minute. I love writing for RPGs. There’s a fantastic buzz to seeing a finished product with your name on it, no matter your contribution. I think there’s a lot of folk out there believing RPG writing is a dream job giving them a chance to make a lot of money doing what they love.

It’s not quite like that.

The folks that write RPGs work hard, at every level – we’re talking editors, proofreaders, artists – not just writers and designers. The full-timers have to make a living from their work, and freelancers often have to work as hard. What you put in, you get out – and the currency is time. So here’s my thoughts for anyone considering becoming a freelancer or full-time writer on RPGs (some is common sense, but…).

Be professional, if you want to be taken seriously. Treat it as you would any paid job. If you do get a Non-Disclosure Agreement, honour it. Conduct yourself as a business-person, rather than fan-person.

Hit any deadlines set. Even better, get your work completed well before the deadline.

You will be edited: accept it. I worked on a project with Forgotten Realms’ Elminster himself, Ed Greenwood, who told me “We ALL get edited.”- if your work is cut, deal with it.

Always get a proofreader, and get used to “red ink” or comments. Someone who’ll read over your work – this is less relevant for established publishers who will have their own proofreaders, but if you’re self-publishing, this is a must.

Treat it like a job, not a hobby. Set yourself proper goals to complete your work – milestones like “1,000 words by Friday”. Don’t be too stringent on yourself – you need downtime (see below).

It’s in the nature of the RPG industry (just like real-life!) that people move on to other projects and roles. While you’re working on a product, keep your loyalty to the product – not a person. There’s nothing personal in it.

Make sure you have some downtime to deal with Real Life™. Family, friends, films, a book…. whatever! Make sure you take some time out. If you’re going to sleep thinking about your work consistently, you’re overdoing it. Stop. Chill.

Do what you can, not what you want. Manage your time: to use a cliche, under-promise and over-deliver if needed. For example: I’ve been involved with almost the entire Mutant Chronicles line for 3rd edition. Much of that was indexing and caption writing, but I also helped fine-tune some of the writing and proofread. I am fine with that. Since then, I’ve found myself doing more and more on the product line.

Keep to the assignment. If you’ve been asked to keep to 20,000 words, keep to it. You may not get paid for any extra words. It can have a knock-on effect in layout, so be careful! If in doubt, ask. Some publishers may want to keep extra material for future products – so keep it in mind.

Deal with rejection. If your work has a problem, publishers will let you know. If you have to redo something, then do it. Don’t sulk about it.

Negative feedback is still feedback. What went wrong? So fix it, next time. Not everyone will like your work, so don’t worry about the one Dislike among a hundred Likes. Take ANY criticism and use it positively.

Believe in the product. You may not need to know the rules set, but turning in a half-arsed draft because you can’t be bothered with the canon is a shot in the foot. Also be preapared to talk about it on social media etc. (but honour any NDA!).

Invoice promptly. Budgets can be tight so make sure you invoice for either your time, or the assigned word count.

Have I missed anything? Probably. But anyhoo… I’ll be at the UK Games Expo in June. If I’m not running a game, I’ll be at the Modiphius stand (or the pub)!

The Heimburg Hellraisers first appeared in the Cartel Tactical Centre fanzine for the Mutant Chronicles. I write a column called the Damnation Dossier for CTC, under the guise of the Serenity’s Agent 😉

Compiled by Her Serenity’s Agent Sir William Heron.

CLASSIFICATION: Brickbat Lingerie

Sirs.

Upon my recent sojourn to Dark Eden during the Incident (see the Dark Eden Campaign tome, currently in preparation) I had the fortune – or perhaps, misfortune – to encounter the Doomtroopers who call themselves the Heimburg Hellraisers. At this time there are five members, all of whom were in the city of Heimburg at the time of the so-called Battle of Heimburg (see the somewhat luridly entitled “Venusian Apocalypse” tome).

By various deeds (and possible misadventures!) they came to the Cartel’s attention via Inquisitor Stark (Confidential Brotherhood Personnel file attached – ssh!), who then elevated them to the ranks of the Doomtroopers. They’re a somewhat boisterous and rambunctious lot, a tad overconfident but all-round good eggs. They fight hard and play hard. If they can’t eat, drink, or bonk it; then they’ll likely shoot it.

The Hellraisers certainly distinguished themselves on Dark Eden, even considering the efforts of all involved. These Johnnies and Jennies are worth a look for future recruitment…

Felcity “Momma Bear” Obasanjo

As leader of the Hellraisers, words to describe Obanajo like “indomitable” or “terrifying” spring to mind. She’s a former beat cop who joined the military after she grew tired of the corruption within the Capitol corporate police forces. While she has Brotherhood training she seems to be dead set against following the paths of their Mystics.

She’s tall, statuesque, and a very capable Sergeant – and doesn’t suffer fools – of any kind, at all. She has some skills in the Art as a result of her early tutoring by the Brotherhood. She’s fiery, opinionated and utterly secure of her position at centre of the universe. I’ve faced the Dark Legion’s worst, but even I feel like a rookie when subjected to her verbal tirades that would make a Wolfsbane blush.

TALENTS

Big Boom

Mystic: Odabunja can cast the following spells of the Art: Blessing Contempt, Succour.

Rain of Fire

Rigorous Training

Sharp Senses

Spiritual Understanding

Tariq “Chatterbox” Nakamura

Of the entire unit, Nakamura was the biggest surprise. Although he carries himself like a Mishiman (and we know how arrogant that lot can be!), he is actually from Dark Eden: from the Crescentia Tribal region, to be exact. As a child he stowed away on board a Brotherhood ship (note to self: ascertain where this ship was – might be useful!), before disappearing onto the streets of Luna. The next decade or so is something of a closed book. Tariq learned things on what I shall euphemistically call a farm, but Tariq seems to have picked up some skills with a blade in that time…

Tariq is very quiet, but has a very dry sense of humour, and there appears to be some form of silent competition with Artyomov as to who can get away with the most outrageous prank or other clowning about. In battle he is all-business though, so Obasanjo forgives these minor transgressions. Just don’t ask her about the strange case of the regimental mascot and the laxative during the parade.

TALENTS

Hardy

No Mercy

Resilient

Self-sufficient

Specialist: One-handed

Stubborn

Barbara “Duct Tape” Perez-Singh

Perez-Singh’s “origin story” reads like that of a classic over-achiever: high marks in everything she attempted. It was a given that Cybertronic would be interested in her. Her records showing her being gifted student, with a promising career in the medical profession within Cybertronic. She could have been Cybertronic’s media darling. Her records show her suddenly joining the military for some reason but even this Agent’s skills can’t break the encryption on those sealed files.

However: there’s something odd about Perez-Singh. She seems to veer between cool detachment when she’s dressing wounds to a murderous rage when prompted. I’ve seen her put a Necromutant’s face through a wall, bare-handed. She’s not a tall person, barely clearing 5 feet, but to see her do that… well, Cybertronic, what can I say?

TALENTS

Field Dressing

Hardy

Heal

No Mercy

Physician

Rigorous Training

Stubborn

Therapeutic Caregiver

Vadislav “Masher”Artyomov

Dour. Taciturn. Tall. All words to describe Artyomov, a big lad from Whitestar; only a year older than Lang, but he’s seen a lot of things get tasty. He’s immensely protective of Lang– although he’d never admit it. Born on the painted rust of Kosmograd Spaceport, he’s no stranger to hard work, crawling over the gantries to fix various mechanical “complications” there. He came to the Cartel’s notice after a well-placed autocannon salvo destroyed a Nepharite and three Razides, standing his ground while his militia comrades ran away.

He’s a bloody good mechanic and tech, and the sodding great autocannon he carries delivers a right smack. He’s not called “Masher” for his aggression, but for his ability to create stills of alcohol. “Rocket fuel” he calls it. And it’s lethal. I’m fairly certain the Hellraisers use it to clean their weapons too. He and Nakamura have some kind of rivalry regarding who can pull off the most outrageous stunt. Currently, Artyomov has the higher ground: he inverted Nakamura’s quarters. Everything is upside down. Nakamura was asleep in there at the time. So far, Artyomov has told no one how he did it.

TALENTS

Grease Monkey

Natural Engineer

No Mercy

Quick Draw

Sniper

Spiritual Understanding

Natalie “Junior” Lang

Lang grew up in a fairly prestigious family, retainers for Bauhaus’ House Steinberg. Groomed for a life of boring menial and clerical work, the young (!) Lang rebelled, going spectacularly off the rails and immersing herself in the designer drug culture. After a few brushes with the BLEUs, she eventually found herself banged up inside the nick. Considering her options, she opted to join the military, where she has found her niche as a first-class sniper.

Natalie is a perky and relentlessly optimistic individual who remains in what I can only describe as on a constant “sugar high”. She loves confectionery and often leaves sweet wrappers behind, despite policing her brass! She has yet to receive a nickname other than “Junior” from Obasanjo much to her annoyance, as she has yet to distinguish herself in the team. Whatever you do, don’t mention this to her – as she’ll go off on one about it.

TALENTS

I have mixed feelings about 2016. I reckon everybody has now. I’ve had a load of setbacks, but have also upped my “game” this year considerably. Not all of these setbacks were gaming related, but they impacted on both myself and my gaming nonetheless.

I made the official jump to being a freelancer last December (as in, HM Taxman now knows I do freelance writing). On the plus side it means I can be taken a little more seriously and can also factor the costs of doing business into my tax return (probably a minus!). I will be paying voluntary National Insurance contributions. Ethically, and morally, I don’t agree with finding ways to hide money from the taxman. We’re all likely screwed anyway, thanks to the current political climate in the UK and abroad…

OK. Back on topic. Time has also been a casualty this year for me. As well as holding down a full-time job (with extra duties and responsibilities – and pay!), the freelance work has taken a huge chunk out of my ability to devote time to the hobby. This is a natural progression of things I reckon. Last year I’d hoped to become more of a gaming “ambassador” trying to get the disparate gaming groups of Edinburgh to perhaps try to talk to one another. I’ve put this project on hold for now – I cannot devote the time to it. A number of people commented on how busy I was, but I didn’t realise how much until my health took a bit of a body blow. When something you enjoy stops being fun, stop and take a breather.

With that in mind I had to make a few changes.

Convention-wise, I didn’t go to Conpulsion, Q-CON, or others this year. I attended the UK Games Expo and Dragonmeet, but that was the only two. There’s a significant cash outlay in both travel and accommodation for conventions outside Edinburgh. The state of the pound means it’s unlikely I’ll attend GENCON or ESSEN. If I’m honest, these are actually working trips – I’m either helping setup and help on the Modiphius stall (5am start for Dragonmeet!), and/or I’m demo’ing games. There’s something very rewarding about having players come back to your games from previous years. Even more so when they buy the game based on the session you ran. 😀

I also turned in a selection of Doomtroopers for the Cartel Tactical Centre, a Mutant Chronicles/Warzone fanzine. I’m writing a regular column called the Damnation Dossier, using Her Serenity’s Agent Sir William Heron nom de plume. I’ve a loa of NPC ideas for MC.

Most of my freelance work relates to the Mutant Chronicles. I’ve done the indexing, captioning, error checking and stats for much of the line. I call it “Chroming”. It’s hard work, but the buzz you get when it’s done.. . The Dark Eden Setting book was a true marathon for all involved.

I’ve had to reduce my weekly sessions of ORC games to fortnightly. I’m running Achtung! Cthulhu Shadows of Atlantis. I’ve a good group. We spend half the time delving into history, which I’ve really come to enjoy. It’s not Call of Cthulhu as such, but something pulpier. Sadly, the enervation of time meant I had to stop running my Mutant Chronicles game, which was fun while it lasted.

Goals for 2017

For 2017, I’m trying to strike a compromise. Take time to get a breather, when it’s needed. I’ve worked pretty hard over the last year (not just gaming-wise), and I’ve a better idea about what I can do. But I’ve a bunch of ideas.

In that regard, I plan to write adventures down, not just have them in my head. I’ve a nice number of notebooks that contain “figments”, for want of a better word. Not just Mutant Chronicles, but Achtung! Cthulhu too. I really want to get the ideas down and out there. I’ve an idea for an Achtung! Cthulhu campign that I really need to spec up.

I’m hoping to play more boardgames: I tried to get more involved at ELG over the year, but time was limited. I backed “Siege on the Citadel” which should come as no great surprise. It’s something of a quandary, as I don’t really like competitive games, but enjoy the social aspect.

I’ve few ideas to help the Modiphius Silvershields programme. It’s early days yet, but I’m hoping that the ideas I have may give it a bit of a boost. Volunteer GMs are a resource to be cherished by games companies. I’m not talking about organised play like Pathfinder Society or Adventurer’s League, but GMs that give up their time to run their own games.

Infinity is a game I’d like to get into, after buying Operation: Red Veil. As regards the RPG, I’m an NPC. I’m not sure if I’ll get heavily into it. Way too much background fluff, and I plan to stick to Mutant Chronicles and Achtung! Cthulhu for demo purposes. I can’t really run any more games – even Star Trek, although I’ll manage a monthly sojourn to Black Lion.

Convention-wise I plan to go to Conpulsion this year, as well as the UK Games Expo and Dragonmeet. Possibly Claymore too. I’m not sure whether it’ll be as player or GM, but I’m planning to take the opportunities as they crop up. Either way, I reckon the work will be worth the reward.

One of my final reflections is that I’ve become something of a local gaming celebrity. I’m not a guru or an expert. I AM NOT A CELEBRITY. I’m a guy that has some gaming experience and can talk to people. That’s all.

ORC Edinburgh (Open Roleplaying Community Edinburgh) is the RPG community website I’ve been running for several years. It has been a challenge. The RPG scene in Edinburgh has grown exponentially, along with other tabletop games. Over the last few months, I’ve realised I can’t keep track of the various games and groups, not to mention the various venues. In the past, people have assumed things just happen.

Over the last year, there’s been a significant number of changes in my life. It’s impacting my ability to coordinate the activities. So, I’ve stepped back from trying to be a “Gaming Ambassador” for ORC Edinburgh. The community has built to such an extent I can’t keep track. This is a good thing. Like Lorien, the First One from Babylon 5, time for me to step aside. Last year, I “reached out” (urgh, hate that phrase!) – to the other gaming communities too, and made some inroads. But it’s just too much time to spend on it.

I’ve appointed a number of volunteer moderators for the ORC forums in this respect. This should alleviate the pressure to the extent I can concentrate on other things than RPGs. As well as running ORC Edinburgh, I also have a long daily workday which is becoming increasingly challenging. As well as doing the freelance work for Modiphius (which I love doing) and a few other personal changes, the time commitment just isn’t possible. I’ll still keep the site maintained and active. The training wheels have been removed, and ORC Edinburgh will now sink or swim on its own.

As I taught you and stepped aside, now you must do the same. Our age is past. This…belongs to the younger races now. They have learned to stand on their own. They have learned…to understand. Time to let them go – Lorien, Babylon 5: Into the Fire

Many of ORC’s members have moved on, yet many more have signed up. They’ve left Edinburgh, formed their own permanent groups, or just haven’t the time. It’s time for me to move on like the others before me. Do I think I’ve left a legacy? Well, so many groups wouldn’t exist for ORC. Some of ORC have formed permanent relationships – even dated – from their time in ORC: so, yes. Like Morgue and Dave before me, it’s time to expand my horizons.

… Now, like the others, I find I hate to leave. But none of us can stay behind this time. That was why it was necessary to find all the remaining First Ones. This…is yours now. And you have an obligation…to do as we have done. To teach the races that will follow you and, when your time comes, as ours has, to step aside and allow them to grow into their own destiny. If your races survive, if you do not kill yourselves, I look forward to the day when your people join us…beyond the Rim. – Lorien, Babylon 5: Into the Fire

So what’s next for me?

Despite the (slightly!) maudlin nature of the early part of this post, I look forward to the future. I remain committed to running Achtung! Cthulhu every fortnight. The extra time I now have allows me to focus more on my personal life. Plus, I will have a Saturday free. I can also find more time to concentrate on freelance work. It should be possible for me to catch up on running (and playing) demonstration games too. There’s the novel and all the other stuff I wanted to get done, but had no time. I’m not saying this is ALL going to happen, but it’s a start!